ONE Minato - back again, ditto for H Mercury and NYK Rumina

 ONE Minato

 The ONE Minato was back in Halifax again today, December 18, after a month. The ship first called here on November 18 on THE Alliance's EC5 service. As reported here, the ship is the tenth and last of the Milau class built for K-Line and operating for the Japanese joint venture Ocean Network Express. 

When the ship was last here it was westbound from Asia. It sailed frrom Cai Mep, Vietnam October 1 and called at Singapore October 4 to 6 and Colombo October 14 to 15. It sailed directly for Halifax, via the Cape of Good Hope, arriving November 18 and sailing November 19. After calls in New York November 21 to 23, Norfolk November 27 to 30, it then visited Savannah December 2 to 3 and Charleston December 7  to 8. It arrived off Halifax about December 12 and was standing by offshore until yesterday, when it tied up at Pier 41.

It sailed today in bright sunshine. Unlike its last call on a dull day, its magenta hull colour stood out in bright contrast to the black rocks of Point Pleasant Park.

The 152,180 gt, 146,696 dwt ship has a capacity of 13,900 TEU. It was built by Imabari Zosen in Mihara, Japan and delivered in July 2018. Oddly on leaving port today it gave New York as its destination. This backtracking seems odd, but may be the result of schedule slippage, and as the ship is heading eastbound again it appears lightly loaded, so has capacity for more cargo. It may be picking up cargo for another ship that may have been delayed a week or two.

The Atlantic Maple and Atlantic Ash provide the required double tethered escort as the ship is outbound in ideal conditions.

H Mercury

ZIM 's ZCX service has been seeing some different ships recently, as the former feeder route has been extended to inclued the west coast of South America service. Larger ships have been introduced, but as with many ships, the arrivals and departures have been at night with little chance to see or photograph them. One of those different ships has been the H Mercury which first called here October 9 and was back November 13. The ship arrived again yesterday at PSA Fairview Cove and sailed this morning.

 As with previous calls the ship was well loaded with reefers. Built in 2022 by Jiangsu Yangzi Xinfu Shipbuilding in Jingjiang, China. At 28,848 gt, 24,468 dwt, it has a capacity of 1800 TEU and has 250 reefer plugs. Owners are listed as Yangze Mercury Shipping Pte incorporated in Singapore. (No idea what the H stands for).

NYK Rumina

Another regular caller and member of the Daedalus class, NYK Rumina took the vacated space at PSA Fairview Cove almost as soon as possible, with H Mercury taking a wide turn out into Bedford Basin to make room for the inbound NYK Rumina.

 The tug Atlantic Ash, having undocked the H Mercury, scoots past the inbound off Pier 9C on its way to its next assignment. It is rare to see such close quarters work in the Narrows.

 

The H Mercury turned way to the north in Bedford Basin making lots of room.

 Built in 2010 by Hyundai, Samho, NYK Rumina is a 55,534 gt, 66,171 dwt ship with capacity of around 4888 TEU (or 4922 by some accounts) including 330 reefer plugs.

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Return of the Regulars

 Two arrivals in Haliax today (July 19) were both regulars - one long term and one shorter term.

The "newer" of the arrivals was MSC Nuria from Montreal on the CANEX 2 service to Mediterranean ports. The ship arrived in light draft condition for St.Lawrence River limits and will top up cargo to ocean draft. The ship arrived in a light drizzle, which fuzzified the image somewhat.

 The tug Atlantic Oak is made up forward portside and Atlantic Fir approaches to make up on the starboard bow.

The ship made its first call here June 4, 2019 for Canadian Food Inspection Agency invasive species clearance. At that time there were no MSC ships calling in Halifax on a regular basis, so it was something of a novelty. That has changed with "draft stops" to decant or top off now a regular occurrence. MSC has also added Halifax to some of its North Atlantic services, including Turkey- Greece, Indusa, North Europe-Ecuador along with CANEX 1 and CANEX2.

The ship was built in 2008 by Daewoo's Mangalia, Romania shipyard and launched as Buxplace but was given its current name on delivery. It is a 50,563 gt, 63,377 dwt ship with a capacity of 4884 TEU including 560 reefers.

There was some sort of problem with the ship as it approached the pilot station inbound, and it had to do a 360 degree turn and make is rendez-vous with the pilot boat a second time before the pilot boarded.

The second arrival, later in the afternoon is a long time regular on THE Alliance's AL5 route from North Europe.

NYK Rumina made its way inbound to Fairiview Cove with the tugs Atlantic Willow forward and Atlantic Bear tethered aft.

Built in 2010 by Hyundai, Samho, the 55,487 gt, 66,171 dwt ship a capacity of 4922 TEU including 330 reefers. It has been calling here since at least 2015.

Ships the size of these two were thought to be obsolete a few years ago as larger and larger ships came into service. However the recent COVID/boom in shipping drove their value back up and gave them an extension. With things cooling off, if not slumping now, and with scores of new ships coming out this year and next, there may be a thinning in the ranks.

Nevertheless they are still useful ships on routes that include the St. Lawrence River, and some low volume trade routes.

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Sunday Report

 There was considerable activity in the port spread out over the day today, April 30, 2023.

Early morning arrivals at PSA Halifax Atlantic Gateway were the two regulars EM Kea on the St-Laurent 1 service (CMA CGM + Maersk) from Montreal.

... and ONE Helsinki on the EC5 service for THE Alliance.

Built in 2012 by IHI, Kure the 96,801 gt, 96,980 dwt ONE Helsinki has a capacity of 8930 TEU. This is its first call at the Southend, but now all the larger ships on this service will no longer be calling at PSA Fairview Cove due to their size. The ship was built as Helsinki Bridge and renamed in 2020 when it was chartered by K-Line to the Ocean Network Express (ONE).

With all that activity at the Southend, the arriving Tropic Hope went to anchor in the lower harbour. Tropical Shipping's vessels are usually worked on Mondays, so this does not represent a delay.

 At Fairview Cove, and sailing in the early afternoon it was NYK Rumina on the AL5 service.

Another of the Daedalus series of ships it was built in 2010 by Hyundai, Samho. The 55,487 gt, 66,171 dwt ship has a capacity of 4922 TEU including 330 reefers.

Autoport had another caller today - the spring increase in demand for cars is in full flood!

The Morning Capo arrived from Southampton after calling at all the usual continental ports. Built in 2013 by Hyundai, Kunsan* it is a 59,615 gt, 20,139 dwt ship with a capacity of 6,674 CEU.
 

[* Kunsan, also translated as Gunsan, is a new shipyard built by Hyundai in 2008. Due to a slump in demand for ships it was closed in 2017, but re-opened in October 2022. It is located 179 km southwest of Seoul.]

 There was also a different arrival of sorts. The Dutch flag multi-purpose type general cargo ship FWM Atlantic tied up at Pier 25. This is not a pier for working cargo, but more often used for ships in layup or for repairs.

The ship is virtually brand new - it was delivered January 6, 2023 by Ferus Smit (I am not sure which shipyard) in the Netherlands. It was built as Symphony Atlantic but was renamed FWN Atlantic as of January 1, 2023. The 8360 gt, 12,575 dwt ship is built to the open hatch, box shaped hold pattern and carries two cranes. However it may be fitted with travelling pipe handling gantries in the holds. The devices unstack large diameter pipes, placing them one at a time on a platform where the ship's deck cranes then lift them off. (The process works in reverse for loading).The ship is also equipped with Dynamic Positioning 2 which indicates offshore gas pipeline activity.

See tomorrow's report for more on the FWN Atlantic and related activity.

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Five cruise ships and other traffic - amended

 Welcoming three or even four cruise ships together in the Port of Halifax is not unusual, but having five ships in port at once is rare. Today, October 11, is the only day this season when that number of ships is scheduled to call on the same day.

Staggering their arrival times is required to ensure there are enough pilots and linehandlers available, while still maintaining "normal" commercial shipping activity in the rest of the port.

Norwegian Pearl (2390 passengers, for Pier 20), Sky Princess (3660, Pier 22), Viking Octantis ( 380, Pier 31) and Ocean Voyager (200, Pier 24) were the first to arrive, embarking their pilots between 0630 and 0645 hrs. Seabourn Quest (Pier 23) followed at 0715 hrs ADT.

By the time they were all secured at their respective berths it was wall to wall white on the waterfront.

Viking Octantis arrived as the sun was rising behind heavy cloud. Delivered in December 2021 by Vard Tulcea (a Fincantieri yard) the 30,114 gt ship is rated Polar Class 6 and can carry 378 passengers in 189 staterooms. (Other sources say 380 passengers.) it operates for Viking Expedition Cruises.

The ship sailed to Antarctica for the first part of 2022. Returning via New York it spent the summer cruising on the Great Lakes. Exiting the Seaway October 4 it called in Trois-Rivières, Quebec City and Sept-Iles en route to Halifax.

Ocean Voyager has also been to the Great Lakes this season, exiting the Seaway October 5 and calling in Montreal October 5-6, Quebec City October 6 and Charlottetown October 9. 

The ship is a familar one in all its guises since built in 2001 as Cape May Light by Atlantic Marine in Jacksonville, FL. It has sailed as Sea Voyager in 2010;  in 2015 it became Saint Laurent, and in 2016 the Victory I. The ship was re-labelled Ocean Voyager in December 2021 and returned to service earlier this year for American Queen Voyages. [Yes those are the same ducks in both photos]

The ship was in Halifax April 29 this year (and its sister Ocean Navigator , the former Cape Cod Light, on April 26).

New to Halifax is the Sky Princess a 145,781 gt behemoth built in 2019 by Fincantieri Monfalcone. In addition to its 3,660 passengers it carries 1,346 crew. I did  not get a clear photo of the ship on arrival, but may get one when it sails. (It is the largest ship in the panorama photo above).

Commercial traffic in the harbour continues too, with one unusual move. The general cargo ship Onego Duero (see October 9's post) had been unloading steel rail at Pier 27, but  moved out to anchor in the lower harbour early this morning to free the berth for the Trinitas from Cuba with nickel concentrates.

The ship apppears to be light, but it may still have cargo aboard -if so it will move back to Pier 27 to complete unloading once the Trinitas sails. Both the cargoes of steel rail and the nickel concentrates are transloaded to rail cars at Pier 27, and with Iberian Bulker (the red ship in the panorama photo) at Pier 28, there was no room to work two ships at the same time.

PSA's South End terminal saw the arrival of Eimskip's Skogafoss and theTropic Hope for Tropical Shipping.

Along with sister ship Tropic Lissette, the two ships maintain a weekly service to and from Florida and the Caribbean. Much of the (northbound and southbound) traffic is refrigerated. The 15,215 gt, 20,325 dwt ship dating from 2018 has a capacity of 1145 TEU including 260 reefers and carries two 45 tonne SWL cranes.

 PSA's other terminal at Fairview Cove accommodated THE Alliance's NYK Rumina, a regular caller of long standing.

A 55,487 gt, 66,171 dwt vessel, it is rated for 4922 TEU including 330 reefers.Hyundai Samho delivered the ship in 2010.

 

With its escort tugs, the ship only gently disturbed the placid waters of the Narrows and the Basin as it made its way inbound.

Amendment

The Sky Princess sailed just as the sun was vanishing from the Halifax waterfront, so only the ship's funnel caught a few rays.

 For the record some of the other ships mentioned above, Skogafoss and Norwegian Pearl, as they sailed this afternoon:

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Something Different

 With the same container ships arriving again and again - sometimes for years on end - it is difficult to find something new to say or to show in the way of photos. 

The typical ship photo enthusiast tries to minimize background or foreground interference, to get perfect exposure, and to have the sun from the proper angle to minimize shadows, and most importantly the "forward 3/4" ( or 10 o'clock / two o'clock) view of the ship approaching (much preferrable to the ship viewed from the stern, departing.) Eventually it is possible to capture these repeat callers in the more or less perfect conditions - but then what? 

Today's bright sunshine provided good lighting conditions, but the two ship photo candidates have made countless calls on Halifax, so what was the point of trying for another photo, with so many already on file? The old adage that you can always get a better picture was a bit of a stretch, but the true enthusiast never quits.

By my reckoning Atlantic Container Lines' five G4 ships, after five to six years service, have made close to fifty round trips each (that is nearly one hundred transatlantic crossings), usually calling in Halifax east and west bound. Therefore I have seen the Atlantic Sun numerous times and and I have probably taken more than enough photos. So there was nothing unique about today (August 21) except that it was a warm day, and there were many pleasure craft in the harbour, and conditions were ideal.

Another familiar caller arrived yesterday and sailed today on THE Alliance's AL5 service. NYK Rumina is a modest sized vessel by today's measure. At 55,487 gt, 66,171 dwt, it has a capacity of 4922 TEU including 330 reefers. It was built in 2010 by Hyundai Samho.

There was also lots of pleasure craft traffic in the area when it sailed, but everyone remained clear (after a warning hoot).

The pilot boat Capt. E.T.Rogers was picking up speed off Pier 20 to get ahead of the ship as a small sail boat needed  to cross the boat's wake at right angles to avoid a severe roll. (There was ideal wind for sailboats today too.)

The boater executed the move perfectly and met the wake bow on, with a predictable splash. Not that this spoiled my "going away" photo - it just made it more interesting than it might have been.

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Where are the ships - Part 2

In partial answer to my September 18 post, wondering about the dearth of container ships in Halifax recently, there was some activity today, September 21.

MSC Weser, which arrived in Halifax September 5 put out to sea today for trials. It did not take long to confirm that whatever the problem had been, the ship was now fit for service and it soon returned to port. It tied up at Pier 41 and began to load (or re-load) cargo.

The ship will be re-joining MSC's Canada Gulf Bridge service. It was en route from Philadelphia to Montreal when it arrived here, and will now continue that voyage. It normally sails from Montreal to Corner Brook and Saint John then on to Freeport, Bahamas and Mexico. That service does not call in Halifax.

Since the ship was completely unloaded on its arrival in Halifax, it was in ballast for today's trials. Just what it may be loading now is a bit of a mystery. Presumably whatever cargo it had for Canada could have been forwarded by tuck and rail by now, and outbound cargo could also have been sent here. However the ship is due in Montreal September 25, sailing September 26.

Another Montreal-bound MSC ship anchored off Halifax September 19. MSC Shristi was en route from New York when it made a "hard left" and anchored offshore.

As seen at a distance from Halifax the ship appears to be reasonably well laden, but perhaps not fully loaded. It was due in Montreal September 21, but has since been removed from MSC schedules. It is now due in Halifax tomorrow, September 22.

Built as Venice Bridge in 2005 by Hyundai, Ulsan, it is a 54,519 gt, 64,989 dwt ship with a capacity of 4738 TEU including 374 reefers. In 2019 it was renamed Baltic East under MSC management and in 2020 became MSC Shristi.

Also coming to anchor off Halifax today is the Conti Contessa, a sizable ship on THE Alliance's EC5 route (Far Est / Med/ East Coast North America). Built as Ital Contessa by Samsung, Koje in 2006 it measures a hefty 90,449gt, 101,007 dwt with a considerable container capacity of 8084, including 700 reefers. It became Conti Contessa in 2019 under Conti11 Schiffahrts ownership and Niederelbe management.

The ship appears to be heavily loaded, but is scheduled to transit the Narrows to Fairview Cove tomorrow, September 22. Based on its German ownership, it is likely filling some of HAPAG-Loyd's tonnage commitment to THE Alliance. (With ONE, Yang Ming and HMM.)

It is a large ship for the Narrows, so its airdraft must be minimized. 

Also at the Fairview Cove terminal today was NYK Rumina, a 55,487 gt, 66,171 dwt ship built by Hyundai, Samho in 2010.

The ship has a capacity of 4922 TEU, including 330 reefers, and it is on THE Alliance's AL5 service, which connects western Europe with the west coast of North America. Its last European port is Antwerp and first and last North American port is Halifax, so it is in competition with several other lines on the North Atlantic. 

One prominent and highly reliable Halifax subscription news source stated earlier this week that PSA's takeover of the Cerescorp / NYK operation at Fairview Cove is a "done deal" awaiting regulatory approval from Competition Bureau Canada. No date was given for when the green light will be illuminated, but it will be interesting to see how it plays out if it is approved (which seems likely).

Major investment in equipment is needed at Fairview Cove, and is underway at PSA Halifax's Southend Container Terminal (formerly Halterm.)

Some shuffling of shipping lines is also expected, in part to ease road traffic issues in downtown Halifax. The city will be entering a period of extreme congestion when major re-developments of several roadways are set to begin soon. Keeping heavy truck traffic off the peninsula's streets (and onto trains) should be a top priority.

Halifax has so far avoided the congestion that is backlogging ports in many regions, but careful management of landside activity will be required. As one pundit stated recently "ports are a mess, but shipping company profits are at record highs." 

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Topping Up

 The MSC Lorena arrived today Jul 11 from Montreal to "top up" its container cargo. Due to fresh water and draft restrictions the ship cannot load to full capacity on the St.Lawrence River. Some of MSC's ships also arrive here westbound to "lighten up" before sailing on to Montreal.

It is quite apparent from the photo that the ship could load many more containers before it reached capacity either by volume or by weight. Built in 2006 by Daewoo, Okpo, it is a 59,963 gt, 59,587 dwt ship with a capacity of 4860 TEU, including 560 reeefers.

Later on it was NYK Rumina, a similar sized ship, sailing from Fairview Cove, headed for Port Everglades, FL on THE Alliance's AL5 service. 

Halifax was its first stop from North Europe, so it is still well loaded. The 55,487 gt, 66,171 dwt ship has a capacity of 4922 TEU, including 330 reefers. It was built by Hyundai, Samho in 2010. It will go on from Florida to Cartagena then to the west coast USA and Vancouver before reversing course back to Europe, via Halifax September 2.

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Fairview Cove - back at work

It was a short holiday for the Fairview Cove container terminal . After clearing its last ship at noon time Saturday, the pier was at full swing again first thing this morning.

The big (old) post-Panamax Performance tied up at the west berth and the NYK Rumina at the east berth.

It is easy to see why ships the size of the NYK Rumina are considered obsolete, when ships the size of Performance (and larger) can now pass through the Panama Canal with ease.

Performance is a 74,0712 grt, 74,453 dwt ship with a capacity of 6402 TEU, including 500 reefers. It was built in 2002 by the Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industry (IHI) Kure yard in 2002 as MOL Performance for Mitsui OSK Line. They sold the ship in 2014 to Danaos Shipping Co Ltd of Piraeus and it was renamed.

Danaos is one of the hurting  non-operating container ship owners (meaning they do not operate their own shipping line but charter ships to the line operators). They had eight ships with Hanjin when it failed, and have 24 charters to expire in 2017 and three more in 2018. Not only that they reduced their charter hire rates 20% on 13 ships to help save Hyundai Merchant Marine from collapse. Banks have extended waivers to Danaos until April, so the future of the 55 ship fleet is in limbo.

Performance is now with the G6 Alliance on its AZX service, but with the re-organization of that alliance in 2017, we may not see much more of this ship. [AZX=Asia, Suez, East Coast North America]

Out in Bedford Basin Fritz Reuter awaits its move tomorrow morning to Halterm.

There was very litttle down time at the Oil docks in Dartmouth.
 

Piltene arrived in the late afternoon of December 25. It has been an off an on caller at Valero and Imperial Oil since 2014. Built in 2007 by the 3 Maj Shipbuilding Industri in Rijeka, Croatia, the 30,641 gret, 52,648 dwt ship is a nice break form the cookie cutter Korean  Mid Range [MR] product tankers we usually see. The Latvian Shipping Co of Riga also operates the tanker Latgale that was here last week.


The tanker East Coat arrived this morning at Irving Woodside.

One small correction to my Christmas Eve post regarding the supplier Skandi Flora. It did not in fact get a break of more than a few hours, for it sailed Christmas Day for the Stena IceMAX, however it returned to port again this morning.
The drill ship has moved much closer to Halifax for its maintenance work, meaning a shorter trip for the suppliers, which include Maersk Nexus (which also arrived today).

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Christmas Eve action

There has been a big rush over the past few days to clear cargo before the Christmas holiday. Both container terminals have been very busy, but Halterm cleared its last customer this morning when CMA CGM Altaviva sailed at daybreak. Oceanex Sanderling sailed from Autoport this morning too.  The bulk carrier Eider arrived and sailed over night from pier 28 where it took a quick top off load of grain en route from the Great Lakes.

The action then shifted farther north.

Federal Swift comes to anchor against a backdrop of idle cranes at Halterm.

The bulk carrier Federal Swift arrived from Baie-Comeau for bunkers and anchored in the lower harbour. The ship was built in 2012 by Zhejiang Ouhua Shipbuilding Co in Zhonshan, China. A ship of 24,196 grt, 37,140 dwt, it is in ballast likely having delivered bauxite or alumina to Baie-Comeau. The ship carries four 30 tonne cranes and grab buckets to handle such cargoes.

Fairview Cove was also busy over the last few days. Agios Minas cleared over night and Tokyo Express arrived, but I must have put the curse on Atlantic Sea, because it was forced out to anchor early last evening with mechanical issues. It was joined later by NYK Rumina which will be anchored until December 26 before it moves in to Fairview Cove.

A regular caller for the G6 Alliance NYK Rumina will be anchored for a couple of days.

The 55,534 grt, 65,981 dwt ship has a capacity of 4922 TEU (including 330 reefers) and was built in 2010 by Hyundai Samho.

A late morning arrival, Fritz Reuter went directly to anchor in Bedford Basin where it will remain until December 27 before moving to Halterm.

This is the ship's 25th voyage for Melfi Marine, trading between Europe and Cuba. The 18,840 grt, 23,732 dwt ship has a capacity of 1732 TEU (including 379 reefers) and carries a pair of 45 tonne cranes  for ports without container cranes. Its first visit to Halifax was December 8, 2013.
Guangzhou Wenchong Shipyard Co Ltd produced the ship as Maruba Zonda in 2006, but it was renamed on delivery to Norddeutsche Reederei Schulte of Hamburg.

It was followed by the supplier Skandi Flora for pier 9C. It will not be needed over Christmas while the drill ship Stena IceMAX suspends drilling for maintenance.

Skandi Flora was built in 2009 by STX Norway Offshore AS in Trondheim for DOF Rederi AS of Storebo, Norway. It is operated for DOF Subsea Canada Corp by Mathers Logistics of Halifax under a coasting license as a non-duty paid Canadian flag vessel and was registered in Halifax September 3, 2015.
The 4469 grt, 5005 dwt ship will be finishing up its work soon as Shell has announced they will stop drilling in the Shelburne Basin on completion of the current well.


Once the two inbounds were safely out of the way, Tokyo Express was able to move through the Narrows for sea.

Tokyo Express eases by pier 9A where IT Intrepid is lingering for the finishing touches to a refit. It should be sailing for a cable repair job on the St.Lawrence River after re-fueling next week. 

HAPAG-Lloyd's Tokyo Express came out of the Hyundai Heavy shipyard in Ulsan in 2000. At 54,465 grt, 67,145 dwt, with a capacity of 4890 TEU (including 370 reefers) it is among that endangered species of (formerly) Panamax ships that are no longer considered efficient carriers. Ships of its size are going to scrap
at a record rate as the industry tries to shed itself of unprofitable tonnage.

Atlantic Sea followed on its heals.

ACL's third (of five) new G4 class ships, Atlantic Sea was delivered in the summer of 2016. The Shanghai built ships have all been experiencing teething problems as new-builds are wont to do, but this one had been more or less trouble free. However it was restricted to port by Transport Canada from yesterday until late this morning due to some mechanical problem. It was allowed to sail, even though it is missing its starboard anchor. It may not be that easy to find an anchor for a 100,430 grt, 56,700 dwt ship on short notice, and ships usually don't carry spares.

The loss of an anchor is usually the result of defective chain. It can be a serious matter when a chain fails, and that is why chain manufacturing is such a highly specialised process. See this video:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lY2JqGTvPh8

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THE Alliance

Although not completely set in stone yet, the replacement for the G6 Alliance of container lines appears to be set to start up in about a year's time.

G6 deck load.

Of the eight "orphan" lines left over from the realignment of major lines, all but two are not confirmed as members of a new grouping entitled THE Alliance. Hapag-Lloyd, Hanjin, NYK, K-Line, MOL and YangMing are the confirmed members. The arrangement is inked for five years, but much can change by then.

Hapag-Lloyd charter Serena P sailed this evning on G6 Alliance service.

The United Arab Shipping Co (UASC) is in separate talks with Hapag-Lloyd. The result could see H-L acquiring UASC (unlikely), a merger of some sort or a form of sub-alliance, but UASC will be a member of THE Alliance when that is settled.

Also left out for the time being is Hyundai Merchant Marine which is teetering on the brink. Lenders are pressuring HMM to reduce its costs by renegotiating lower rates for its chartered-in ships. There may be more news on how that turns out as early as this week. If HMM survives it will also join THE Alliance.

THE Alliance is reported to control 650 ships, and if UASC is included, 4 mn TEU.

What this means for Halifax is speculation on my part, but it seems likely that we will see THE Alliance ships generally doing the same work that the G6 ships are doing now.

NYK Rumina sails this morning as The Port Authority workboat Maintainer I goes about its business.

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